What to do about systemic edema in rheumatic heart disease?

Written by Di Zhi Yong
Cardiology
Updated on January 16, 2025
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If the patient has rheumatic heart disease, the current treatment mainly focuses on symptomatic treatment. If the patient experiences generalized edema, it may be due to sodium and water retention causing the swelling. In this case, some diuretics can be used to reduce the workload on the heart and improve symptoms. It is recommended that the patient be hospitalized. During this period, some cardiac diuretics can be used to alleviate symptoms. If heart failure is corrected in time, such edema can be reduced. Active symptomatic treatment is still necessary to mitigate the patient's current condition, but during this period, it is also important to monitor changes in the patient's heart rate and blood pressure.

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Written by Xie Zhi Hong
Cardiology
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Can patients with rheumatic heart disease not drink a lot of water?

The early manifestations of rheumatic heart disease include rheumatic myocarditis or pericarditis, sometimes accompanied by significant pericardial effusion. In later stages, there may be thickening of the pericardium, presenting as constrictive pericarditis. Some patients may also develop severe mitral stenosis, aortic stenosis, or insufficiency. When the disease reaches a certain level of severity, the patient can experience cardiac failure and systemic sodium and water retention. In such cases, it becomes necessary to control water intake. Therefore, in the early stages of rheumatic heart disease when there is no cardiac failure, it is possible to drink more water. However, when patients experience severe cardiac failure, edema, and similar conditions, it is not advisable to drink excessive amounts of water.

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Written by Di Zhi Yong
Cardiology
44sec home-news-image

What to do about systemic edema in rheumatic heart disease?

If the patient has rheumatic heart disease, the current treatment mainly focuses on symptomatic treatment. If the patient experiences generalized edema, it may be due to sodium and water retention causing the swelling. In this case, some diuretics can be used to reduce the workload on the heart and improve symptoms. It is recommended that the patient be hospitalized. During this period, some cardiac diuretics can be used to alleviate symptoms. If heart failure is corrected in time, such edema can be reduced. Active symptomatic treatment is still necessary to mitigate the patient's current condition, but during this period, it is also important to monitor changes in the patient's heart rate and blood pressure.

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Written by Wang Lei
Cardiology
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Does rheumatic heart disease require surgery?

Patients with rheumatic heart disease primarily have involvement of valvular lesions, with the most common being accumulation in the mitral valve, leading to mitral stenosis. In the early stage of the disease, mitral stenosis often has no clinical symptoms and can only be detected through physical examinations, such as auscultation, which may reveal mitral valve murmurs. For patients with asymptomatic rheumatic heart disease, conservative treatment is primarily advised, which includes rest and reducing cardiac load to avoid surgery. Additionally, for severe rheumatic heart disease, mitral stenosis can be very serious, affecting the patient's cardiac function and causing symptoms such as chest tightness and fatigue after activity, and even paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea and inability to lie flat at night. In such cases, surgical treatment is required, such as mitral valvuloplasty or prosthetic valve replacement surgery. Thus, surgery is necessary in the late stages of rheumatic heart disease.

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Written by Jia Qiu Ju
Cardiology
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Can rheumatic heart disease cause pain throughout the body?

Rheumatic heart disease itself does not cause generalized pain, but during the acute phase of rheumatic fever, generalized joint pain or fever-induced muscle soreness can occur due to the disease. Rheumatic heart disease arises when rheumatic fever affects the heart valves, leading to conditions such as stenosis and insufficiency. This typically affects the mitral and aortic valves but can also involve the tricuspid and pulmonary valves. Clinical symptoms of rheumatic heart disease primarily include heart dysfunction, chronic heart failure, or acute heart failure episodes, and can also present with arrhythmias, predominantly atrial fibrillation, which can lead to an enlargement of the atria and the formation of mural thrombi, resulting in thromboembolic complications.

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Written by Zhang Yue Mei
Cardiology
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Which department should I visit for rheumatic heart disease?

Patients with rheumatic heart disease need to visit the department of cardiology for diagnosis and treatment. Rheumatic heart disease involves pathological changes in the heart valves and is considered a serious heart condition that can cause complications such as arrhythmias and heart failure, necessitating regular cardiology visits. For complications that arise, a comprehensive analysis is needed, followed by systemic treatment. These patients should rest regularly, properly use medications, adjust their heart rate, improve heart function, and enhance their quality of life.